


First, Second, Third

by WillowRosenbergWinchester



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-14 08:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5737030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WillowRosenbergWinchester/pseuds/WillowRosenbergWinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With The Watcher’s Council left to dust, Potential Slayers showing up on the doorstep every day, and The First breathing down their necks Willow is left with no option but to send her son away for his own safety.</p><p>NOW EDITED</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter will be BtVS based mainly, starting after S04E06 ‘Wild at Heart’ telling the story of Willow dealing with Oz’s leaving in a less/more destructive way than shown in ‘Something Blue’. We will then be jumping ahead to mid-Season 7. Based on Challenge 4955, but with Willow instead of Faith. 
> 
> Willow never became friends with Tara, yes they knew each other but they didn’t have any kind of relationship beyond acquaintances. 
> 
> Supernatural timeline- set beginning of Season 3, after the actions of ‘All Hell Breaks Loose Pt 1 & 2”. The first chapter however is set approximately 2 years before the show starts, so Dean is about 24, John is away on a solo hunt, and Sam is of course, at Stanford. 
> 
> Underlined passages are direct quotes from the TV Series, not wrote by myself. Of course both Buffy and SPN belong to their respective creators, and I am, of course, making no money from this. 
> 
> My computer somehow ate the first version of this. This sadly, pales in comparison.

He was a good guy, Riley, she decided after he got the guy working the music to turn off Dingo’s Ate My Baby. And then he asked if she wanted to talk, yeah he could work for Buffy, assuming he wasn't secretly evil. “No, I... I want you to find Buffy and tell her that I went home and not to worry about me. Which at least will give you something to say.”  
  
Well that was easy, she had at least tried to get out of her funk, but once again memories had reared their ugly head and bummed her out.   
  
A short way from Lowell house and plunked herself down on to a nearby bench and closed her eyes, just enjoying the feeling of being outside in the cool air.   
  
Hearing footsteps in front her she opened her eyes only to come face to face with Spike, _shit, this is what I get for hanging around outside after dark._  “Spike! Wh-what do you want? Uh, a spell? I can do that.”  
  
She jumped up hesitantly and felt for a stake,  _right_ , it was tucked into her boot.   
  
“I'll give you a choice.” Spike walked close to her and ran his finger down her face, “Now I'm gonna kill you. No choice in that. But... I can let you stay dead... Or... Bring you back, to be like me.”  
  
Shivering she stepped back, only for the back of her legs to connect with the bench. Nowhere to run, too public to do magic, all she could do was – “I--I'll scream.”  
  
He moved closer again, caressed her neck before tilting her head to the side before baring his fangs, “Bonus.”  
  
Before she had the chance to scream Spike was torn away from her and her view of him was blocked by a man who held a jagged knife who placed himself in-between them. Lifting up her leg she pulled the stake from her boot and held it out in front of her only for the guy to look at it confused and move her arm out of the way.   
  
God, this guy was stupid, she motioned it back to him again and this time he turned and looked at her.   
  
“I’ll be back for your friend, Red.” Spike pulled himself off the ground and made a run before either she or the mysterious guy could react.  
  
Placing her hand on his shoulder she forced him round. “Hey, Mister, what exactly is a knife going to do huh?”   
  
He stepped away from her, but still kept an iron grip on the knife, so she kept the stake firmly in her hand. “What do you know of it, I just saved your life, you could have been, err... mugged, or attacked?”   
  
Giving him an incredulous look she motioned to the stake in her hand and waved it in front of his face, “I wasn't completely powerless you ignoramus, I grew up here, I know not to walk around at night unprotected!”  
  
He knocked it out of her hand and stepped up close, “Right sweetheart, because a wooden stake is the way to go, if you’re killing Vampires in Transylvania.”   
  
Willow held her hands up stopping him coming any closer, “Why you think you going to decapitate one with that little knife?”   
  
He placed the blade back in his pocket, “Oh trust me sweetheart ...that is the only way to do it.”   
  
She couldn't help herself, she literally laughed in his face. “Boy, are you out of your depth, this is Sunnydale. The normal rules don’t apply here.”  
  
He took a step back a look of shock racing across his face, “Wait, I’m in Sunnydale?”   
  
Bending down she picked the stake and slotted it back in her boot. “Did the sign on the way into town not give it away?”   
  
Straightening she saw he had a confused look on his face, “there was no sign, well not one standing anyway.”   
  
Willow laughed and crossed her arms, “should have known. Anyway, I’m guessing you've heard of us then?” She sat back down on the bench and invited him to join her.   
  
He reluctantly sat at the opposite end of the bench. “Yeah, although, if my Dad finds out I’m here he’ll tear me a new one.”  
  
Willow patted him on the knee, “well thank you for saving me from Spike, although it’s not the first time he’s came after me. I’m sure your dad would understand. Damsel-in-almost-distress after all.”   
  
He turned his head to look at her and searched his eyes over her face, looking for anything that would show her to be anything other than a normal human. “So you know about Vampires then?”   
  
“I grew up on a Hellmouth, my school barely went a week without someone dying, yes I know about Vampires. Not to mention demons, werewolves and witches too.”   
  
The guy held his hand out to her, “I’m Dean by the way.”  
  
“Willow.”  
  
She shook his hand, well this could be worse, she may have left a party where no one was interested in her, but at least she hadn't been attacked by Spike, all thanks to the guy sitting next to her.   
  
"Well Willow, it's nice to meet you. Anywhere we can go to get a drink? I need some time to come up with a convincing lie to tell my dad before I see him again."   
  
"I'm guessing you're in the line of work where Hellmouth's are a no go zone."   
  
"Yup, family business."   
  
"Well in that case you deserve a drink, if you don't mind a little walk there's a bar in town where both of us can go. Let the helpless girl buy her saviour a drink?"   
  
Standing up she offered him her hand and pulled him upright. She stumbled slightly at his weight and he held her against his chest to steady her. When he smiled down at her she felt herself shiver.   
  
Moving his arm around her shoulders he pulled his leather jacket around to try and keep her warm. "God, I'm sorry I didn't realize how cold it is, my cars just round the corner, will be warmer than walking."  


  
Unable to say anything besides giving directions, she carefully studied the guy in the driving seat. He was undeniably cute, not in the way Oz had been, but in a rougher, manlier, well not cute at all, more like downright handsome kind of way.  
  
Upon directing him to the small car park round the corner from The Bronze she smiled at him brightly before jumping out of the classic car.   
  
Deciding to have more fun than she was able to at the frat party, along with thanking him for 'saving' her, she decided to throw caution to the wind and be a little reckless. Well less reckless than walking around Sunnydale practically unarmed anyway.  
  
She dug a $20 note out of her pocket. "Drinks are on me, but I'll wait in the back. Just a beer is fine, or whatever you’re having I guess."   
  
He reluctantly took the note and gave her a quizzical stare before putting two and two together and realising she must be underage. "Okay then."   
  
She led him round to the entrance and pulled him inside, nodding to the bouncer. She pointed to the bar and then the corner where there was an empty table. She pulled him down to her level "I'll be over there, be discreet please."   
  
Making her way over to the table she grabbed two stools and moved them next to each other and sat herself down.   
  
Since Oz had left she had been living in a world of gloom. Stomping around, being a grump to her friends, her magic going wonky. She knew everyone was a little sick of her moods.   
  
Maybe she just needed to have a good night, that's what Buffy had tried to do, something to cheer her up. Maybe this is what she needed. A few drinks with a handsome vampire fighting stranger. After all, what else did she have to look forward to.

 

All her life she had loved two guys, one was dating an ex-demon and the other had run off after cheating on her. Well this Willow Rosenberg was done with moping; this Willow Rosenberg was going to let loose a little, like Buffy had after Parker. Well maybe not _just_ like Buffy but still.   


*****************************************************************************

  
Waking up with a headache the next morning back in her dorm room she looked over to see Buffy fast asleep in the bed next to hers, a glass of water on her nightstand, and a bucket placed on the floor next to her bed.   
  
She shut her eyes again. The previous night came back to her in flashes, a few beers, a suggestion to dance, Dean teaching her to play pool only to grab the attention of the bouncer who recognized her and knowing she was underage, being chucked out. Then she remembered running back to his car laughing the whole way before he had pinned her against the car and started kissing her.   
  
Fumbling around against the door, his hand round her waist, hers clinging to his chest, before he reached round and opened the door only to manoeuvre them both into the back seat with a practiced grace.   
  
Clothes being hastily pulled down and off until he sank into her and she let out a relieved groan. Frantically fucking in the back seat.  
  
When they'd both finished, awkwardly he offered to take her home and she'd let him. All the way to the doors of her building at least. Kissing him sloppily on the cheek she'd thanked him and offered him her stake for protection on the walk back to the car.  


  
She lay still for a few more minutes relishing in the memory of being a bad girl, before the need to pee hit her. Forcing her head up she stumbled to the door only to see she was in her PJs and not wearing her clothes from last night.   
  
Returning to the dorm room a few minutes later she could see Buffy's bed was empty, and the wardrobe door open. Letting the door close her best friends head popped out from behind the closets door.   
  
"Hey beer-y!"   
  
"Morning."   
  
She slumped back down on to her bed and rooted around in her bedside table for some painkillers, and seeing the glass of water on the top she swallowed a couple of advil.  
  
"So Miss-Came-Home-Talking-About-A-Sexy-Hunter, want to explain to me how when you got home more than a little tipsy and I had to get you into your PJs you weren't wearing any underwear?"   
  
Willow groaned and lay back down.  


***************************************************************************

  
Besides some teasing from Buffy she didn't think much about her night with Dean. Life went on as normal, at least until Thanksgiving when Angel came back into town.   
  
When he'd grabbed her in the coffee shop and she'd had to explain who Riley was she could see his face change when he focused back in her, a look of confusion gracing his features.  
"Willow, you smell different."   
  
She had looked at him oddly, Angel hadn't paid this much attention to her ever, she couldn't help but blush. "Well I've changed my perfume since Oz left but well..."  
  
"No that isn't it." He pulled her closer and sniffed her in a way she assumed was to be discreet. It wasn't.  
  
"Er, Angel? If Buffy see’s us like this she might wonder what the hell is going on."   
  
Angel pulled away from her sharply and she stumbled slightly at being off balance before he pulled her close. "God Willow, I'm sorry! Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
Willow looked up at him only to see his face had a look of concern. "Tell you what?"   
  
Angel pulled her away only to place a hand on her stomach. "The baby, I can hear the secondary heart beat."   
  
Jumping away from him she looked down at where his hand had been placed just moments before.   
  
"Willow?"   
  
Her eyes snapped back to his.  
  
"You’re pregnant."  


  
She tried to forget his words, but was as cautious as possible in fighting the ghost of the Native American's who had crashed thanksgiving, but after a sleepless night she knew she had to find out, to be certain.   
  
Braving the chemist on Black Friday she grabbed a few pregnancy tests before anyone she might know saw her and hurried back to the dorm. An hour later she was still staring at the three boxes in front of her. There was no way she could be pregnant, she had always been so careful with Oz. But she had stopped taking the pill after he skipped town.   
  
Buffy chose that moment to walk in and before she had the chance to move the tests she had seen them. Open mouthed she stood and stared at them before moving her gaze up to meet her own.   
  
"Oz?"   
  
Sighing she moved the tests towards her. "No. We were always careful and I've had a cycle since them."   
  
"That hunter guy then? Dean was it?"   
  
"I don't know. Angel said something when he was here yesterday. He said he felt another heartbeat."   
  
Buffy sat at the bottom of the bed and took one of the tests into her hand. "We need to know. If you are, then we need to know."   
  
Standing abruptly she started to pace. "I know, I just, between Oz leaving and then some random hook-up with some guy I never got the second name of, and then everything yesterday, I just don't know." She threw her arms up in the air, "I mean, Angel might be wrong right?"   
  
Buffy stood up and placed her hands against her shoulders. "I don't think so; it's weird but, well Vampires they can tell this sort of thing can't they?"   
  
Shrugging out of the Slayers grasp she stepped away. "I don't know, I've been staring at those boxes for an hour Buff, I've read the instructions three times. We we're careful, we used protection."   
  
Moving in again Buffy grasped her hand. "It's not always 100% though. We should check. And, well, if you are we'll make it work."  
  
Half an hour later, having peed on all three tests she had an unequivocal yes. She was pregnant and didn't know the fathers surname.  


************************************************************************

  
They dealt with it; thank god her parents weren't around anymore to pile on the guilt. Instead she had Giles, Joyce, Buffy, Xander, Anya and Dawnie to support her. UC Sunnydale let her find a place off Campus, to where she was followed by Buffy, Riley, Xander and Anya, who all helped out. They took out Adam, dealt with Riley, but it wasn't until Joyce passed away when Joshua was just a few months old that she knew she was needed back on Revello Drive to help Buffy with Dawn.   
  
After the Trio fled town, Warren having died when Willow had directed her bullet away from her baby and it hitting him in the chest did she truly feel safe in their new home. Finally having time to breath between one catastrophe and the next she started looking into who the father of her child was.  
  
All she knew was he knew about the horrors the darkness hid; he hunted with his father, and had a classic car. Apparently, the Supernatural world was small enough that when she made contact with a hacker guy and was presented with a few photos she was able to pick him out almost instantly. She never got his contact details though, and the guy, Ash, stopped messaging her.   
  
Dean Winchester. His father had passed and according to a contact of Giles' from when he was searching for Buffy after the whole Angelus mess, he was currently hunting with his brother. Giles had managed to track down his contact details though.   
  
Willow filed away his contact details, after hearing about the mess the Winchesters were in she figured it would be safer for her son to stay apart from his father at the moment. Joshua was safe, he had Uncles and Aunts that loved him, and it wouldn't be fair to him to bring more danger onto his head.   
  
That was of course, till The First reared their ugly head once more just a short month later and took out The Council. She knew, at that point she couldn't let her son become another victim to the Hellmouth. And she couldn't leave; she was desperately needed.   
  
Hesitantly she picked up her phone and dialled the number from the scrap of paper she had been toying with for an hour. It was time for Joshua Rosenberg to become a Winchester.  


************************************************************************

  
He had a year left to live. Sam wasn't happy about it, Bobby wasn't happy about it.  
  
He, well, even knowing he had been stiffed only getting a year, he couldn't bring himself to want to change it.   
  
Sam was alive; the yellow-eyed Demon was dead, and at the end of the day that's all that mattered.   
  
Sam had taken him to see Lisa, to say goodbye. But the feelings he'd had for her back when he was 18 were not the same that he felt at 28.   
  
Instead his mind kept scanning back to a petite redhead on the Hellmouth. One who had laughed in the face of danger, who had grown up with the terror and the fear that he had, and had hopefully survived. He may have only known her a few brief hours, but in that time he knew that if there was ever a woman who could be there, who he could legitimately be with, it would be her. Not even Jo, who knew what he faced every day compared, they hadn't chosen the life like Willow; she inherited it. The girl who had rang him an hour before saying she'd tracked his number down, and she needed his help, needed to see him.  
  
He met Sammy back at the motel and shook his head. "It wasn't the same."   
  
They packed up and made their way to the car. "So, where next on the 'Because my brother is a jackass we have to say goodbye to everything tour'?"   
  
Motioning for his brother to get into the car he turned the stereo on.   
  
"Sunnydale, California."


	2. Chapter 2

A phone call told her Dean and his brother were only an hour away from Sunnydale. Her best instincts told her that her son shouldn't be present when they arrived. So she shipped him, Dawn, and few of the potentials off to the cinema, warning them to not spoil him with too many sweets, as they often did, and to see something age appropriate.

She then spent a good twenty minutes going through every outfit she owned trying to find something that was both not too Mumsy or too boring. Settling finally on a pair of skinny jeans she then struggled to find a top only to be rescued by Buffy and a nice deep red top with a sweetheart neckline.

"So, I understand why you're doing this, you've been trying to find him for four years to tell him he has a son, but I don’t understand why you're fretting so much over what to wear."

She slumped on the pile of clothes littering her bed. "Buffy I don't know what I'm going to say. I don't know how much he knows, I mean, I know he's a Hunter and he's down with the whole evil thing, but does he know about Slayers? How will be react when he finds out I'm a witch? How will he reacts when he finds out he has a son? Josh has lost too many people to find out that he has a father who doesn't want to see him."

Buffy sat next to her on the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm not going to say stop worrying, because you wouldn't be Willow if you did; but, just start at the beginning. Tell him what we do, and then tell him you've spent all this time trying to find him. He'll understand. And, if he doesn't I'll kick his ass for you."

Buffy placed a sloppy kiss on her face and she nudged her away and wiped her cheek. "Thanks."

Jumping up from the bed she held a hand out to Willow to pull her up. "Now, come into my room and I'll curl your hair. It won’t hurt if you look your best."

She squeezed Buffy's hand, grateful as ever for her best-girlfriend. "Okay then. Just tell me you've cleared everyone away from the back garden, I don't need an audience."

"Of course, what is your bestest non Xander shaped friend for. Your Xander shaped friend has dragged the rest of the girls away to the Magic Box for a few hours anyway."

******************************************************************************************

Dean threw his brother a glare as he turned the music down. "Sammy, I swear to god if you mess with the volume once more I will end you."

"I don't understand Dean. Please explain to me why we are heading towards an active Hellmouth on the call of some girl you hooked up with forever ago?"

God, his brother could be a pain in the ass when he wanted to. "She said she needed my help. Plus, she's pretty smart; she might be able to help with getting out of the deal without you being dragged to hell in my place."

Seeing the sign for the town coming up on the road ahead of him he smiled at the memory. It seemed someone had bothered to put the sign back up, but it looked a little worse for wear. "You said this was my final tour, and I want to go see the hot redhead I had an amazing night with once upon a time. Don't worry; I'm sure she has friends."

Sam groaned and stared at the town they had entered trough the side window. "Fine, whatever, but if she can't be of any help we get out of here and keep looking okay?"

"Okay."

Ten minutes later try pulled up on a nice street, outside an ordinary looking house. It seemed the girl had done well for herself, but then again, in a town like Sunnydale he very much doubted house prices were booming.

Turning off the engine he stared at the door for a moment before it opened and she walked through it. She stood shyly on the porch and barely lifted her eyes to meet his and gave him a little wave. 

He held his hand up in greeting and started to get out the car. "Come on then Sammy."

Climbing out he threw her his most devastating smile and he noticed a flush pass her cheeks and down to her chest before she have him a small smile. "You're a tough one to track down Dean Winchester."

"For good reason darling. Don't want to be too contactable when you're known to the baddies."

He moved in and awkwardly hugged her. "It's nice to see you again."

Stepping away he motioned to Sam who had joined him on the pavement. "My brother, Sam."

Willow gave him a kind smile and offered her hand. "It's nice to meet you. Dean told me all about you and Stanford."

He grinned as his brother flabbergasted and then held out his hand to meet Willows, "it's nice to meet you too."

Stepping away she motioned for them to follow her towards the house, but instead of going inside she led them to the patio round the back and motioned for them to join her round a small breakfast table. Before he could even sit down a small blonde bustled out the house and placed a tray of glasses and a jug of lemonade on the table.

The blonde smiled at the two of them before settling on Sam. "Hi, I'm Buffy. You must be Dean" she stuck out her hand in much the same manner as Willow did.

Sam laughed nervously and took her hand, while Willow flapped between them. "Actually, I'm Sam, the short one over there is my brother Dean."

Dean laughed at her double take, apparently his brother was more her friends taste, and took her hand from his brothers. "Nice to meet you Buffy."

******************************************************************************************

Willow couldn't help herself, she fussed over making sure they were comfortable, that they were cool enough in the California heat, that their lemonade was okay before Buffy thankfully stepped in and place her hand on her arm.

"Sorry, little nervous,” she whispered to Buffy before turning her attention back to Dean. “I need your help."

Dean leaned forward in his chair and nodded for her to continue.

"When we met before there were a few things I didn't tell you."

Taking a deep breath she centred herself. "I know about the Supernatural because one of my best friends is a Slayer. This best friend actually." She motioned to Buffy who raised her glass in a mock salute. "Do you guys know about Slayers?"

"One girl in the entire world to fight the vampires and the monsters right?" Sam asked her.

"Pretty much except there are two of us due to a little drowning I did once." Buffy chipped in with.

"Yes, well, we've been fighting Vampires and Demons and Evil Witches here for almost 7 years. But we are up against something now, something so evil that we don't know if we will come out the other side of."

She spent twenty minutes explaining about the First, the Watchers Council, the dozen girls who were currently living in the house and how they were fighting a losing battle, and how for the first time in years they were genuinely afraid.

"I don't know whether we will come out of this fight whole." Buffy added and cast her gaze down to the table. "But I'm sure as hell going to make sure that as many of us do as possible, which is why Willow asked you guys to come."

Sam put his glass on the table, "we have our own fights, I understand you need help, but we cannot drop everything and to come fight in your war."

Dean felt the need to push his chair back and pace away from the table.

"That's not why I asked Dean to come to Sunnydale, I need-"

She was interrupted by the side gate slamming closed at the patter of tiny feet followed by the harder stomp of half a dozen teenage girls. "Mummy! Mummy! The cinema was closed!"

He ran up to her and placed his head on her knee. "Dawnie bought me an ice cream, but then I was sick so she brought me home."

She patted his small head and pulled him up to sit on her lap. "I'm guessing from all the running you're feeling better now?"

He giggled and squirmed his way up to whisper in her ear. "Yes."

"Well I'm glad to hear that little man, why don't you let Auntie Dawnie take you upstairs to put a film on and I'll be up soon?"

He scramble down off her knee and looked up at Dawn expectantly, "Lion King?"

Dawn laughed and picked him up. "Sure kid, Lion King, again."

She mouthed sorry to Willow and ushered her son and the rest of the girls inside. Buffy followed them inside.

******************************************************************************************

Dean stared at the sandy haired coloured boy who'd run into the garden with a few teenage girls hot on his tail. At the shout of 'Mummy' he'd expected him to run up to the blonde Slayer but was floored when instead he ran up to Willow.

Sam placed a hand on his shoulder and he continued to stare at the boy in shock. He was no good with kids, that was true, but even he could tell there was no way the kid was older than 5, and he resembled himself at that age a hell of a lot.

Forcing himself back into the chair he stared at the kid and it was only when he run off was he able to focus on the nervous looking woman in front of him.

"Dean, I tried to find you, I wanted you to know."

He swallowed hard and heard Sam sit back down in his own chair.

"He's your son?"

"Yes."

"He's my son?"

"Yes."

"Well fuck." Sam added helpfully.

"I..."

"I'm sorry Dean, I tried to find you, I really did. To tell you, but every time I started looking we had to deal with another crisis and just when I thought I had a lead on you the guy I was speaking to online dropped off the face of the earth; and then we got sucked into this whole mess, with girls showing up on our doorstep every other day and then having to deal with the fact that we are facing the end of the world again, and well then it took a whole lot more work to find someone who had your number who would actually share it. And what do you know, it's four years later, and I need you to take our son away from Sunnydale until this mess is sorted. I can't face losing him Dean, he isn’t safe here."

Dean looked at her closely for the first time, and he could see there were more than four extra years on her face, it was marked with worry lines, far too many for a woman in her early twenties. She looked oh so worried. He knew that look, it was the same look Ellen had when she tried to protect Jo, the same look his dad had held, the one Bobby gave them almost as often as he did any other.

"I have a son."

"Yes, his name is Joshua; he will be 5 in August." Buffy slid his drink a little closer but ignoring it he reached for the hip flask he kept in the inside pocket of his jacket before taking a long drag from it. He passed it to Sam who did the same.

"I don’t think I’m the best person to step in here, I only have 11 months left to live."


	3. Chapter 3

Willow looked from Dean back to his brother who had guilt written all over his face.

He reached over and grabbed Willows hand. "I'm sorry darling, I only have 11 months, I'm on the road trying to get out of this deal and I don't think he would be any safer with me. I would, god knows I would, but in 11 months I'm getting dragged to hell."

He saw Sam look down at their joined hands and stood back up.

"Willow, Buffy, I need to speak to my brother, can you give us a minute?"

"What for Sammy?" He asked, tightening his grasp on Willows hand.

"Please Dean?"

He reluctantly released Willows hand and made to get up before Buffy offered them the use of the garden for a few minutes. Willow nodded and timidly followed her friend back into the house.

Seeing the door had shut behind the girls as they went back in the house he turned to his brother and motioned for him to talk.

"We have two options here Dean. We can walk away now and spend the next 11 months trying to break the deal and hope neither of us ends up in hell. All the while we are leaving a boy missing a parent, or we can stay here. We can help these girls put down this evil and maybe earn their help all the while getting to spend time with your son. And maybe by staying put in one place for once we can concentrate on the issue at hand. Rather than try solve a problem while running from one disaster to the next."

Honestly, he was a little gobsmacked. "Sam, where did that come from? A few minutes ago you were ready to leave."

"Look, we grew up with just our Dad, we hunted, we move around and we never had a home. Willow will end up bringing him up in the same way if they fail here. Would you really wish that on another little boy? Not knowing both his parents? He has a home here, a family; do you want to put that at risk?"

"Hell no."

"So we stay, we help them put down this son of a bitch and we get you out of this deal. Willow seems pretty powerful, I'm sure she knows a few things."

He was ecstatic his brother wanted to stay, he would let him get to know his son, because there was no question that he didn't want to, but he couldn't help be confused at his last comment.

"What do you mean pretty powerful, she's not a Slayer?"

"You didn't know? You couldn't tell? She's a witch."

******************************************************************************************

She bustled around the kitchen and made Joshua a small snack and took it up to his room. He smiled at her when she entered the room and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek when she handed him his apple and peanut butter. "Here you go, feeling better now?"

He smiled at her for a second before dragging his gaze back to Simba, "mhmn hmm."

"Okay darling, me and Auntie Buffy will be downstairs, if you need anything Dawnie is just in the next room okay?"

"'Kay"

Smiling she pulled the door but didn't close it, and made her way back downstairs where she could hear through the kitchen door the raised voices of the two brothers with Buffy standing in the middle trying to calm them down.

Dean stopped trying to get past Buffy and towards his brother when he saw Willow and walked up to her, "tell me it isn't true?"

He grabbed her arms and looked in her eyes. "What Dean?"

Grip tightening ever so slightly he hardened his stare. "Tell me you're not a witch?"

Feeling the blood drain from her face and the look Dean gave her she knew there was no way she could lie. "I am, a Wicca that is, one of the most powerful this side of the Atlantic. Please don't tell me you believe all witches are bad?" 

Dean pushed her away and she stumbled slightly. "Dean, I'm not a bad witch! I use my magic to fight evil, the same as I bet you do."

He turned on her then and trapped her between his body and the closed porch door, Buffy made a move to pull him back but she held up a hand.

"I exorcise demons; I'm not calling on the power to kill things. To get my own way!" Shouting in her face he moved closer and held her wrist against the door. "Why should I trust anything you have told me?"

Moving her free hand up to his face she held it, even when he tried to flinch away. "I've been fighting evil for seven years, I've buried friends, I've sacrificed my future to fight evil and my best friend is the longest living Slayer on record, what part of that makes you think I'm evil?"

"I've never met a good witch yet."

She lifted up and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Yes you did, five years ago. When you rushed in to save me from a Vampire."

He released her wrist and stepped back. "I need to think."

She smiled at him and nodded her head, "I know. It's been a big day. You're both welcome to share my room; I'll share with Joshua tonight."

"There’s no motel here?" Sam asked with an exasperate sigh.

Buffy laughed, "Nah kept getting trashed, and eventually the insurance stopped paying out."

Dean nodded. She patted him on the shoulder. "Make yourselves at home, well, as much as you can with a dozen hormonal teenage girls, a toddler and no beer."

He shook his empty hipflask only to come up empty. "Damn, I could use another drink too."

******************************************************************************************

Buffy showed him to Willows room and he flopped himself on the bed. Today wasn't turning out how he hoped. After the disaster of trying to reconnect with Lisa he'd be looking forward to the little redhead who'd stolen his heart for a night to keep his mind off the next few months. Instead she had burst back into his life with two secrets; she was a witch, and they had a son. Closing his eyes he tried to fathom out which worried him more, he didn't have the time to be dealing with this, they had too much to do, but he couldn't afford not to and he knew it.

Hearing a thump he opened his eyes to see his brother had closed the door and then dropped their bags on the floor.

Closing his eyes again he tried to stem the worry. For Sam, for Bobby, Ellen and Jo, Willow, and now for his son, Joshua. The brief glimpse he had gotten of the kid before confused seeped in showed a happy boy, one who looked like him, but with a more delicate heart shaped face.

His position on the bed jostled as Sam sat next to him.

"So, I guess I'm an Uncle then."

He groaned and pulled himself up Ito a sitting position. "I guess so."

They didn't speak any more, both glancing at the room around them. It didn't seem Witch-y, no spell books, only decorative looking candles, no herbs, instead he saw photographs. Willow, the Slayer and a young man were featured in almost every one, sometimes with that Dawn girl, sometimes with an older gentleman, sometimes with a woman who could only be Buffy's mother, but most of all with Joshua. As a baby in between the three of them, on a Christmas morning, playing on a swing-set, messily eating cake. The kid was cute.

A hesitant knock sounded at the door and it opened slowly to reveal Willow. Smiling shyly she made her way into the room and tried to pass some books to him, when he avoided her gaze she instead offered them to Sam who took them with a nod.

"I thought maybe you would like to see some photos, I always made sure we had lots, so you would know what he was like when we found you."

Making her way back to the door she hesitated before opening it. "I'll give you some time to think. But, if you don't want to be here, don't want to do this I understand, Josh need never know."

She opened the door.

"Dinner will be in an hour."

As soon as the door closed he made a grab for the albums before opening the one in the top only to be assaulted with a picture of her only a few months after the last time he saw her. There was still a twinge of sadness in her eyes, but she held her stomach so carefully that he knew there was no way the baby could be the cause. Turning the page he saw a scan picture and traced his fingers slightly over the image before checking the opposite page.

It was Willow in a hospital bed, looking down at the small bundle of cotton in her hands, exhausted but joyous. Buffy and the dark haired young man sat at either side and they were both staring at his son in much the same manner.

He had missed it.

Everything, he had missed being there for the appointments and the checkups and the morning sickness and being able to hold her hand through it all.

A tear escaped his eye, but he found himself unable to tear his gaze away from the picture enough to care.

She hadn't lied to him, she hadn't tricked him, they'd been careful, but accidents happen.

He wished more than anything after awkwardly walking her back to her building that night he had left her with his number, his name, or just ignored the hunt altogether and asked her if he could stay. Damn the demon and his dad. He could have had a home. 

He could have had a life here; still fighting the darkness in the shadows, but with a future.

He felt Sam rest his hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

He looked at his brother before gesturing back at the photo. "When you ran away to Stanford, was this what you were looking for?"

Tightening his grip he saw his brother’s eyes move back to the page. "Yes. I didn't know it at the time, I just wanted out of the life, but then I met Jess. I knew that with her at my side I could ignore all the pain and have a life outside of the business."

"I'm sorry Sam, I'm sorry for coming to get you, for dragging you away."

Hastily wiping the tear away he then moved to turn the page. His son was there, wrapped up in the cotton from the previous page with a tired smile and bright green eyes.

Dean sighed and closed the album. "I don’t want to look at pictures; I want to meet my son."

******************************************************************************************

Willow busied herself in the kitchen ignoring the concerned stares of Buffy. She had only been downstairs 5 minutes before she heard the heavy footfall coming down the stairs and making their way towards the kitchen.

She kept her back turned, too afraid at what he might say and continued washing the salad.

"I want to meet him."

Her head shooting up she met the gaze of his reflected in the window before dropping the lettuce leaves and turning to face him.

"Are you sure? Do you want him to know? Do you want to meet him as his," she dropped her voice, "dad? Or as a friend of mine? I understand if you don't want him to know, but he has been hurt too many times and I don't want him to be confused."

Sam followed Dean into the kitchen.

Dean ignored the look both his brother and Buffy were giving him, and without releasing eye contact with her walked round the corner to stand in front of her. 

"I want to meet my son."

She placed a hand on his chest and studied his face for anything less than total sincerity, but all she saw were some hastily wiped tear tracks and concern. She nodded and moved her hand from his chest to take his hand.

"I need to know before I do, are you going to leave afterwards? I know you have to find a way out of your deal, but we need to be careful."

He squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, I'm not running off any time soon."

She nodded and squeezed his hand back.


	4. Chapter 4

Keeping a hold of Dean's hand she nodded at Buffy and Sam and led Dean into the hallway. Leading him up the stairs she paused in front of her sons room and turned to face him.  
  
"Can we talk first? I need to know everything is okay, what we are going to say."  
  
He nodded at her and led her to her own room before closing the door behind her. She kept her grip on his hand but leaned back against the closed door. "Dean."  
  
He stepped closer to her, mirroring his movement from earlier by holding her hand against the cool wood.  
  
She moved her eyes up to meet his face and was taken aback by the emotions she saw swimming in his eyes. "Dean, are you okay."  
  
He gave her a wry grin and raised his hand to brush her hair back behind her ear before moving in to meet her lips with his own.  
  
She groaned at the contact and used her free hand to pull him flush against her and snaked her hand across his lower back.  
  
He responded by digging his hand deeper in her hair and opening his mouth to hers.  
  
She let herself get lost in the situation. It had been five years since she had been kissed with any passion, five years since she had felt a throb of desire go through her. Just when she was starting to enjoy it he pulled away, and her body followed him an inch or two before he pulled away from her further.  
  
"I'm okay. I just had to know."  
  
"Know what Dean?"  
  
"Whether anything had changed. The moment I drove out of Sunnydale that night I regretted leaving. I was just wondering if that regret was real or nostalgia. I said to Sam just a few days ago that I have so little time left I want to live each minute, and I know that regardless of what happens I had to see if there was still anything there; between us."  
  
Pulling him back towards her she felt emboldened and looked up to meet his eyes. “And is there?”   
  
Grinning he took her lips with his own once more. “Definitely.”  
  
Pulling away from him slowly she smiled before realising his hand was still clasped in her own. "How about we go meet your son and we tell him a version of the truth. You've been away fighting bad guys but you wanted to meet him?"   
  
Nodding he pulled her close so he could reopen the door and this time led her to their sons ajar door.  
  
Smiling she walked around him and opened it to see her son still engrossed in his film. Giving Deans hand one last squeeze she let go and made her way to join her son on the bed, motioned to Dean to sit on the ottoman at the bottom.  
  
"Joshua honey, can we pause your film for a few minutes. I'd like you to meet my friend Dean."  
  
Looking between her and Dean he hastily paused the film and jumped off the bed to stand in front of Dean whom he gave a wave.  
  
"Hello Mr. Dean, I'm Josh, but when I'm naughty mummy and Auntie Buffy call me Joshua."  
  
"Hi Joshua, I'm an old friend of your mums and I have been looking forward to meeting you." Dean smiled and held out his fist to Josh who looked at it curiously before copying him. Dean moved his hand against the boys and bumped it.   
  
Willow moved round her son to sit next to Dean on the bench. "Hunny, I wanted you to meet Dean because he is a very special someone, he's like Buffy and me and everyone else he fights monsters."  
  
Josh's eyes shined and he looked back to Dean. "Really? That's so cool! Everyone says in too young to help out but I wanna."  
  
Dean laughed, "Well you are a little young at the moment, but maybe one day, if you really want to."  
  
She jumped in and picked Josh up to sit on her lap, but he struggled to get down.  
  
"Please just a moment Joshua; I have something very important to tell you." She smiled at Dean and nodded her head to him for her sons benefit.  
  
"Dean here has been very busy and we weren't able to find him."  
  
She smiled at Dean who placed his hand on top of hers resting on their sons knee. "Dean here is very special to both you and me. Can you guess why?"  
  
Josh shook his head and looked at her curiously.  
  
"I'm your dad Josh."  
  
Josh's head whipped around and faced him and she saw him break into a big grin. "Really?"  
  
Dean nodded.  
  
"Cool! It'll be nice to have someone who isn't a girl to play with." Sticking his tongue out at her he wriggled off her lap and moved to over to pick up his favourite train off the floor before offering it to Dean.  
  
"Want to play trains?"  


  
Dean grinned as he played trains with his son, and when Sam joined them almost an half an hour later he sat on the floor and introduced himself before being welcomed into the game.  
  
Looking at him play with Sam it was hard to believe something so good could come from him, could come from being born a Winchester. He saw so much of himself in his features; he struggled to find Willow at all, but looking past the more prominent features he saw her pale skin and warm face in him; the bright green eyes that were focused on the wooden train in front of him could belong to either of them.   
  
It was amazing to see how well he had reacted, but then again giving what the kid had likely been exposed to he guessed it wasn't much of an adjustment. After factoring demons and vampires into your worldview meeting your dad probably wasn't that worrying.   
  
Ruffling the kids hair he noticed his watch and groaned to get up off the floor. "Hey little man, I'm sure Willow, err your mum, said dinner would be ready soon; how about we get cleaned up?"  
  
He eagerly nodded and led both Dean and his brother towards the main bathroom.  
  
Dean saw the younger dark haired girl exiting and gave her a small smile as she jumped to them and grabbed Josh to tickle him.  
  
"Hey Mister, we getting washed up for dinner?"  
  
Josh nodded and looked back to him.  
  
Dawn smiled and placed him back down and gave a nod at both brothers. "I'm Dawn by the way, Buffy's sister."  
  
"I'm Dean, and this Sasquatch over here is my brother Sam."  
  
Sam groaned besides him and elbowed him ever not so slightly in the side before offering his hand to Josh to lead him to the bathroom at the top of the stairs.  
  
The girl he was left in the corridor looked him over and as the bathroom door closed at the end of the corridor she pointed her finger at him. "You hurt Willow or Josh and trust me, my lack of magic and super-girl powers will not hold me back from hunting you down and ending you. Got it buddy?"  
  
Dean stood a little flabbergasted; this slip of a teen who couldn't have weighed more than 90lbs wet through had just threatened him. Unsure in what to say he nodded and slipped round her to join his brother and Josh in the bathroom.  
  
******************************************************************************************

  
Sitting at the dinner table Willow made introductions. The dark haired young man in all the photos was called Xander, he shook Deans hand a bit too firmly. The older guy was Giles, Buffy's watcher and father figure to the whole group; he also tried to break his hand upon shaking it.  
  
The girls, otherwise known as the potential slayers were too many to remember the names of all, but Josh had introduced him to them all as his dad. He'd beamed with pride at his sons words and ruffled his hair before taking the seat next to his son. Sam somehow squeezed into the overcrowded table as well, although he was forced down the other end near the wannabe Slayers.  
  
Dinner passed pretty calmly besides the grilling he received what he found out was known as the Scoobies. Not wanting to let his son know too much about the demons they had faced he tried to keep the conversation light but struggled when their mom was brought up. Glossing over as much as they could they found out both groups faced different kinds of demons and vampires.  
  
"Yeah our demons tend to be the more covered in horns and weird colour variety. Rather than your possession hell ones." Dawn added to the discussion helpfully.   
  
He could see the cogs turning in his brothers head from the opposite end of the table and shot a look before nodding his head towards Joshua who was looking at him intently.   
  
Smiling down at his son he offered to help cut his potatoes and the boy smiled shyly at him and blushingly nodded his head. Dean got to work, pulling the plate closer and making every mouthful into bite sized pieces while Willow and Buffy stared on with questions in their eyes.   
  
"I practically raised Sammy, our dad was usually away on a hunt." Responding to their unanswered question he moved his sons plate back in front of him and started once again on his own meal. "We would be in some motel or cheap rental somewhere, all while he tracked down the demon or a monster. Not a childhood I would wish on someone."   
  
A few of the girls round Sam had dropped their heads, one of them, a cute red head, had placed her hand on his arm.   
  
"That's why I decided to stay, I have a year to sort out my mess, yours could go down in a matter of weeks from what I understand; I don't want my son or anyone else here to live a life on the road. Everyone deserves a home."   
  
Looking along the table he saw Xandef and Giles give him a nod before returning to their food, Buffy and Dawn smiling, and Willow with a small tear in her eye. She blinked rapidly and he saw her eyes return to normal.   


******************************************************************************************  
  
To say she was flabagasted was an understatement. The brash, slightly arrogant man she had met five years previous was completely different than she had expected. Having prepared for the worst she was pleasantly surprised to find out the man who gave her a son was experienced in raising a child and understood the need to keep some things from her child's ears.   
  
After dinner she cleared their three plates and placed them on the counter for the girls to clean up. Taking both their hands as they entered the kitchen she announced it was bedtime and let Dean move to pick him up. She sat quietly stroking her son's hair as Dean sat on the other side of their son reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Once he nodded off they quietly crept out the room and pulled the door almost closed. The shaded hallway forced her to lead Dean by the hand and she decided to stop in her bedroom for them to talk.   
  
Once they were inside without their son or anyone else following them she quietly closed the door before offering Dean a smile.   
  
"He has never gone to bed with so little fuss; he must be trying to impress you."   
  
He squeezed her hand and returned the smile. "You're sharing with him tonight? That bed isn't really big enough for you to join him?"   
  
She shrugged and released his hand moving over to her dresser to collect some pyjamas for later before offering him a sly smile.   
  
"Well it wouldn't be fair to put the two if you in a tent in the garden now would it?"   
  
"We could put Sam in the garden?" he offered with a wink.   
  
"Not if you don't want me to hide your tapes you won't." Sam walked in the room behind his brother and dropped himself on the bed. "Buffy mentioned we'd be welcome to join the group on patrol tonight."   
  
Dean turned from his brother to raise an eyebrow at her.   
  
"Patrol the graveyards for newly risen vamps, check out round the old school to make sure there's no kids lurking, you know, try to take some if the beasties out." She explained. "We take a few different girls out each time on a rota. Giles and Dawn are staying back tonight, so me, Buffy, Xander and 3 or 4 girls will check out the usual haunts."   
  
Walking over to her wardrobe she pulled out black jeans, a warm jumper and a jacket. "Don't wear anything you don't mind getting covered in dust and blood." She threw them both a nod and walked out of her bedroom shouting back to them, "sun sets in 36 minutes." 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short interlude.

**Willow's POV**  
  
Three cemeteries’, two newly fledged vampires dusted and one ripped shirt later and they trudged towards the local park, weapons hid beneath their coats and jackets. The three girls who had joined them lagged behind the more experienced fighters. Vi had managed to stake one of the vampires and Dean had got the other with a crossbow bolt.

When they started to awkwardly climb over the park gate Sam had moved forward and picked the lock while Buffy stared at him from the other side of the gate.

As he opened the gate in front of her she nodded at his lock picking kit. "Maybe you could teach the girls that trick?"

Sam nodded at Buffy and Dean threw her a cheeky grin.

The park seemed deserted, it seemed with the influx of a bigger badder evil many of the local demons had skipped town and left those too stupid to know when to run and hide.

Even for those without super powers the remaining beasties didn't put up much of a fight.

Buffy dragged the girls to the front to explain some of her tactics, Dean gravitated towards Xander to discuss, well, something, they were keeping their voices low; leaving her and Sam to discuss the differences in the vampires they faced.

"It's fascinating really how the rules change depending on the location. I've seen vampires in who can shake off a stake to the chest, but when Vi got that one with a little bit of wood to the heart, well, honestly, I didn't really believe it till I saw it." They walked together towards Buffy and the girls who had pulled up to a sudden stop and dropped their conversation.

She pulled Sam over to the side and motioned for Dean and Xander to do the same.

The three potentials hesitantly pulled out their stakes and Buffy shook her head. She looked over to her and Buffy made an explosion motion with her hands. Placing a hand on Sam's arm and nodding at him to stay in place she motioned for the girls to fall back and approached Buffy's side.

With a small head jerk she scanned past the line of trees to see a group of four demons milling around an overturned trash can, picking through the garbage. Wrinkling her nose she looked to see a look of disgust on Buffy's face.

Looking back to the potentials, Xander and the Winchesters she pulled out her stake and shook her head, before pulling out a silver dagger and holding a thumbs up.

Once they had all produced similar weapons Buffy stepped out to confront the demons.

"You know you're being litterbugs, didn't your parents ever tell you off for that?"

She stepped out to stand just behind the Slayer, silver dagger resting at her waist, hands raised to conjure a fireball. Two of the demons rushed them while one hung back and the last one made a run for it. Buffy took them head on and before the one running could make it back to the tree line she shot a ball of fire towards it. In agony the creature turned and started running towards her, flames licking its flesh. Before she had the chance to raise her dagger it was upon her and knocked her to the ground with a cruel backhand.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Xander, Sam, Vi, Rona and Amanda were busy grappling with the demon that remain by the trash as she fell. Before the demon could land another blow Dean jumped in front of her and stabbed the demon in the neck with his own silver dagger, only to pull it back and stab it again through the eye. Metallic ooze squirted out of its neck and Dean kicked it backwards so not too cover them before pulling his gun and training it on the creatures head. When it stopped thrashing after a few seconds he diverted the guns aim to the demon his brother was busy fighting and then the remaining demon Buffy was quickly putting down.

She slowly pulled herself up from the ground and pulled her own dagger to move towards the demon that lay in front of her and angled her knife through the open would to make sure that it was certainly dead.

Dean offered her his hand once she stood up straight and pulled her close to inspect her cheek under the dim glow of the crescent moon.

Fingers running across her cheek she winced as he caught the area where she had taken the brunt of the impact. Raising her eyes to meet his she placed her hand against his chest and felt his heart beat through the thin cotton of his shirt. He ducked his head and met her lips with his own and gave her a slow closed mouth kiss.

A cough sounded behind them and she reluctantly pulled away to see Vi covering her mouth. "Sorry, think I may have some vamp dust in my throat from earlier."

 *************************************************************************  
  
**Dean's POV**

Once they had entered the park Xander had motioned for him and he dropped back to leave his brother and Willow to feeling each other out.

Keeping his voice low Xander got straight to the point. "Thank you for staying. Willow is my best and oldest friend and I know she appreciates it."

He had just nodded in response.

"I love Willow and Josh more than life itself, and I never want to see them hurt. Willow has lost too many people in this life, so I need to tell you, if you decide to stick around after we have dealt with this mess, if you leave her, if you abandon Josh, I will use all of my magically acquired military training to hunt you down and make sure you never get the chance to impregnate anyone ever again. Got it?"

He looked over at the geeky boy expecting to see his eyes trained on him only to find they were following Willow.

"You realize I have 11 months to live right?"

Xander let out a quiet laugh and finally turned his face towards him. "You now have one of the world’s most powerful witches, a slayer, an ex demon and the rest of us Scoobies on the case. I think you'll be around a little bit longer."

"Ex demon?"

"Yeh, Ahn, my ex. She was a vengeance demon, specialized in bad boyfriends, she was known as Anyanka, but she mainly goes as Anya now. She spent over a thousand years getting vengeance on men, and she's pretty good at it so I'd watch your back."

Before he had the chance to respond Willow had pulled Sam aside and he could see Buffy had done the same with the girls. A few random hand gestures and awkward shuffling later and he could see she had joined the slayer and sent Sam and the girls down to them.

Before he could move to join her at the front Xander had placed a hand on his arm and shook his head. "They're the big guns, we're back up."

He pulled his arm away as the two women rounded the corner. "Like hell am I letting her out if my sight."

Their group followed round the corner a moment later only to see one demon not being fought, seeing Buffy holding her own against two if the demons he moved to help Willow as the others ran off to fight the unattended demon. He ran towards Willow only to see a flaming demon charge her and hit her across the face, dropping her to the ground.

Seeing red he placed himself between them and thrust his blade into the demons neck and eye before kicking it away so it would not fall on top of him. Pulling his gun which held silver bullets he trained it on the creatures head before it fully touched the ground.

Over the falling body he saw Sam, Xander and the girls take down their prey, and Buffy forcing her own knife through her remaining demons chest before slashing its throat the point where he heard metal meet bone.

Before he had the chance to check on Willow she was in front of him with her own knife to confirm the demon was dead.

He pulled her close to inspect the slowly forming bruise and small cut on her cheek, only for her to wince and raise her eyes when his finger strayed too close. Her small hand rested above his heart and he found his head dropping too kiss her, relieved that she was okay.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a word this chapter is fluff. All fluff and cuteness, nothing else. 
> 
> If anyone is interested I can be found over on tumblr @willowrosenbergwinchester
> 
> Anyway, please read and enjoy. Reviews are as ever, appreciated. 
> 
> J

After the excitement of the three demons the group that had gone out that night were weary and ready to go home. Dean hadn't left her side since the demon had hit her and had kept his hand firmly in hers since their kiss had been interrupted.

She'd cottoned on to the sly looks her Slayer friend was giving her, and the smug smile Sam was trying to hide, but choose to ignore them.   
  
She squeezed his hand shocked at how well it enveloped her own, how right it felt. His was the only man besides her son that made her feel like the world wasn't falling apart when he held her hand and she didn't plan on letting him go any time soon.

When they approached the house she'd pulled him back slightly and gave a look to Xander and Buffy who shepherded the girls and Sam inside and pulled him over to his car.

Before she had the chance to bring up the kiss he'd pushed her against the door and brought her lips to hers once more. She threaded her hands through his hair and opened her mouth to deepen the kiss, revelling in the feel of him, memories of the night that produced her son flashing back.

Before she knew it his leg was between hers and he pulled her up flush against him and dragged her hands down her side. Moaning into his mouth she pushed herself even closer to him and teased his hair.

He pulled away from her and gave her a dimple filled smile before moving his leg and lowering her slowly to the ground.

He stared at her, before moving his hand up to inspect her bruised cheek again. "When I saw that thing hit you, I fell apart and I knew the only way to put myself back together was to see you safe.” He paused and dropped his gaze. “I hate that you are here, living this life. I hate that I can’t take you both away from it, because my life is lived in the exact same way."

With a concerned smile she moved her hand from his hair to touch his cheek and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"I know, but thank you. Thank you again for saving me. You're making quite the habit of that Mr Winchester."

"My pleasure Miss Rosenberg."

He moved his hand from her side and felt for her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. "When this is all done, if we get me out of this deal, then things are going to change."

He moved away from her body and tugged her off the car before walking towards the house. "You, me and Josh, we're going to find some life away from all the danger and I'm going to keep you both safe. No more Hellmouth’s. I was born into this life, and you grew into it, but I don't want the same for our son Willow. It's not a good way to live."

With a sigh she squeezed his hand and stopped him before he could enter the front door. "Dean, you know as well as I do there's only one way out of this life and it isn't with a picket fence, PTA meetings and a reliable dog. Whatever we do the demons and the vampires and the apocalypses will always be there, and we'll always feel the need to help."

He smiled ruefully at her and lowered his eyes. "I know, but it's nice to dream isn't it."

  *************************************************************************

She slept cuddled up with her son, but was awakened by the beeping of the alarm she'd set on her phone. Rolling over, she saw the bed next to her was cool and empty; Josh was usually up at the crack of dawn.

Shoving her feet into her slippers and dragging on her robe she shuffled down the hallway and then down the stairs in search of coffee.

The kitchen was alive with the sound of her son’s laughter, but rather than Dawn or Buffy he was stood with Dean and Sam.

His nose was covered in pancake batter, one pyjama leg rolled up to the knee, and his hair sticking up in every direction. He was standing on a chair to the side of the stove next to Dean who he was having an argument with.

"But they have to be funny shapes for Mum, she always makes funny shapes."

"Josh, Josh, Josh, don't you know that funny shapes aren't very stackable? We won't be able to get as much syrup on funny shapes." Dean was trying to reason with his son, apparently over the breakfast they were making her.

Her heart constricted at the sight. They both looked crumpled from sleep while Sam looked dead to the world sitting at the counter.

"Well mum says she doesn't need much syrup 'cos she's sweet enough, so there!" He pointed his sticky finger at Deans chest and she couldn't help but let out a giggle, causing all three Winchesters to stare at her.

"Well, I am, aren't I sweetie?" She walked over to Josh and dropped a kiss on top of his head and smiled at the pan.

"Mmm-hmmn, I was trying to tell him, but he wouldn't listen." He protested stamping his foot and causing the chair to wiggle.

Dean grabbed a hold of him round the waist and picked him up giving him a little shake. "Careful there champ! You'll end up as flat as a pancake yourself!"

Willow smiled while she walked to the dishwasher to pull her favourite mug out before pouring some coffee from the pot and taking a slow sip. Walking to the fridge she topped it off with a little milk before sliding on to a stool next to Sam.

"Morning. Sleep okay Sam?"

Yawning he lifted his coffee in a mock salute. "Seems Josh takes after Dean, he was up before the sun jumping on the bed between us, telling us we had to make you breakfast in bed."

She giggled and looked towards them at the counter before wriggling her finger. "Joshua, that's very sweet but you shouldn't be waking our guests up."

Josh urged Dean to put him back down on the floor to carry her breakfast over. She took it with a proud hair ruffle. "Maybe let them sleep in the future hunny?"

"But mum, dad had to do what all the daddies on TV do!"

Look curiously at Dean he pointed towards Josh before moving to rest his own plate on the counter opposite. "According to TV Guide here, all daddies make the mums breakfast in bed and that's why they live happily ever after." He took a mouthful of pancake and winked at her.

Picking Josh up she placed him on her lap and gave him a cuddle. "Well, if that's so, Mr Josh, how did Uncle Sam end up helping?"

"I said he had to."

She looked over at Sam and saw his features brighten; he clearly knew what was coming next. When she turned to Dean he also had a similar look on his face.

"Oh and why us that?"

"Because we're family and we should do it together to make you feel special!" Placing a sloppy kiss on her cheek he wriggled off her lap and ran out the kitchen shouting as he went, "I'm going to get ready for school."

  *************************************************************************

His heart constricted when he was called dad. It was something he never expected to hear, not something he was sure he had ever wanted to hear, at least until the previous day. He steadied himself on the bench and explained his sons, god, _his sons_ , rude awakening.

Sam looked like hell, at least he did until Willow called him Uncle and he brightened considerably.

Willow deserved to be made to feel special, she had persevered for five years raising his son, all the while saving the world and studying for her degree. While he knew deep down her friends had been there for her, he lamented all the times he missed with her, all the firsts that had passed.

As his sons footsteps on the stairs faded he drug his eyes away from the hallway to study her, happily eating her pancakes and slurping down coffee. Her hair was tousled and wavy, her eyes a little blood shot, with sleep in the corners but she looked perfect. Suppressing the urge to reach over the counter and give her a good morning kiss he instead focused on his own breakfast.

"Willow, I was wondering if I could look over your books? Maybe get a head start on getting Dean out of the deal?" He raised his head from the plate to see Sam looking hesitantly at Willow, who responded with a dazzling smile.

"Of course! I was thinking about stuff last night, what books to look at. I'm also going to place a call to some friends in L.A, see what they can suggest. I have a few ideas already I'm happy to try out. After I get Josh to school anyway."

He groaned, he should have known; she was as big a geek as his brother.

"There's a ton of books in my room and more over at The Magic Box, we'll call in on the way home."

"The Magic Box?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, it's Giles' store, very occult-y, full of books and ingredients and talismans. I'm sure Anya won't mind if we crash in there for a few hours. Get some research done, we keep the really dark books away from the shop floor, and there’s a training room downstairs. Buffy will probably be working with some of the girls there later on."

Hearing a name he recognized he decided to insert himself into the conversation. "Xander's ex? The ex vengeance demon?"

Sam's eyebrows shot up but Willow placed a hand on his arm. "Yeah, she runs the place for Giles, plus she is like a reference book herself, she's over 1,000 years old."

Both he and Sam did a double take at that. "Talk about an age gap."

Willow laughed before eating her last mouthful of breakfast and standing up, she offered a grateful grin to the Sam and moved round the bench to give Dean a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for breakfast boys, I’m going to get dressed, we need to leave in 15 minutes to get Josh round to school.”


	7. Chapter 7

Josh had bounced the entire ride to school in the back of the Impala sitting next to Willow. Weird thing was, last time Willow had been in the back seat was when Josh had been conceived; he found himself quite unable to keep the proud smirk off his face when he realised that.

Willow had clearly noticed this from the look she was gave him as she had struggled to get the seatbelt round her son. He had chucked her a wink and moved his eyes over her, putting the blurred images he had of her half dressed together with the respectable mother that was before him.

She had responded by rolling her eyes at him, but he hadn't missed the faint blush on her cheeks.

Josh beside her was literally vibrating in his seat; he had been full of fun commentary about what he was doing at school and who his friends were. In the short drive alone he had learnt his best friend was called Rosie, she was blonde and liked puppies, his favourite lesson was history, but sometimes art if they got to use paints, and he wanted to be a Watcher or doctor when he grew up. Willow had stepped in at this point to remind him that Watchers were secret and he had to remember he was very special to know about all the things Auntie Buffy and Papa Giles did. Apparently this spurned an old argument and Willow had to remind him that not everybody could know their special secret.

Pulling up to the elementary school he turned to face the back seat.

"Here we go champ!"

Willow smiled and offered her son her hand but he reluctantly moved his own away. "Can dad come to take me in?"

With a look towards him he nodded his head and turned to get out of the vehicle.

Assisting them both out if the back seat he called to Sam to say they wouldn't be long before grabbing Josh's hand in his own.

The walk in to the class cloak room was filled with more titbits of information, where he ate, which paintings on the wall were his, where the boys bathroom was. Willow followed them smiling shyly at the other parents who were giving him and Josh curious looks.

They'd discussed a cover story the previous night, Dean would be an ex serviceman who had been working in private security abroad for a number of years who had just returned to Sunnydale only to find out about Josh having been un-contactable for a number of years. 

As they reached Josh's peg Willow peeled off to explain his appearance to the teacher and her assistant, and to let her know there would be two extra names to add to the roster of people who could collect him at the end of the day from then on. 

"All set buddy?" Josh had placed his jacket on the hook and placed his bag on the bench beneath before pulling out his pencil case and homework from the weekend.

"Yup! You'll come pick me up?"

Ruffling his hair he saw Willow was watching them from inside the classroom and she gave him a nod. "Sure kid, we'll see you later. Have a good day!"

At that point a small blonde girl walked into the classroom and Josh was away like a shot.

Willow handed him is lunch as he ran past and joined him in the hallway.

He grabbed her hand and let her lead them out of the school and back to his car.

   *************************************************************************

The Magic Box was thankfully quiet when they arrived just after 9, Anya was busy by the till sorting out the previous day’s receipts and Giles was sitting at the big communal table looking over some of his books.

Sam and Dean had followed her hesitantly into the store, looking more than a little weary, considering they were basically standing in a room filled with every herb or ingredient a witch could ever need, she was relieved they didn’t start throwing holy water over the patrons. Leaving them to their gawping she gave Anya a grin and pointed at the two of them.

"Hey Anya. This is Sam and Dean Winchester, Sam is the tall one and -"

"Oh no no no no no. I know who they are and they better get out of my shop right now. I won't have hunters in here. Not ones who have killed some of my friends Willow."

She grabbed her broom and made to shop them out before Willow threw up a containment spell.

"Anya relax, you're not going to sweep them out."

She pushed up against the bubble and glared at her. "I'm sorry no, they killed Steve, and I will not let them stay."

Giles had moved over to stand before her and nudged her on the shoulder indicating at the bubble. "Willow maybe we should just explain...."

"No Giles! No explanation is good enough."

As Anya continued to rant in various languages both trying to bring the barrier down intermixed with insults at the two brothers Willow just held her ground and held up a hand to Anya trying to cut her off.

"Fine, I'm clearly not getting out of here until you've said your peace so get on with it Rosenberg."

Willow smiled and lowered her hand bringing the bubble down with it. "Dean is Josh's Dad."

“You had sex with a Hunter? Eww Willow. I mean I know you dated a werewolf, and well Xander, but a Hunter?” Anya shouted giving her a disappointed look. 

The other two people in the store awkwardly made their way to the exit. “No wait customers come back with your money!” 

When the door closed behind them she marched up to Dean and Sam and started waving her finger in their faces. “You’re lucky you’re Josh’s family or so help me you would be out on your backside faster than you could pull one of your horrible guns, got it mister?”   
  
Sam moved to stand in front of her. “I’m sorry about your friend Steve, I’m Sam, and it’s nice to meet you.” 

Willow looked over to Dean to see a proud look on his face, shrugging to Giles as Sam led Anya over to one side, and gave him a questioning look. 

Dean moved over to stand besides her and after nodding at Giles he leaned over and whispered, “He’s doing the distracting charm thing, works every time.”   
Giles took off his glasses and started cleaning them on his sweater before moving back over to the table to look at his books. 

Willow smiled at Dean, maybe he didn’t catch the werewolf comment, or the Xander comment, or maybe the hellmouth would open under her and swallow her whole. “So, books?” 

He placed his hand on her elbow and moved her away from the table, and away from Sam. 

“Werewolf? Xander?” 

Feeling the blush rise on her face, she pulled him a little further away from the others and motioned for him to move closer. “The night we met, I, well, I had just broken up with my boyfriend Oz, a few weeks prior; he cheated on me with another werewolf and went off to look for a cure. We dated for about two years.” 

“And Xander? One of your best friends, the guy who has helped raise my son? Who has been there for everything I have not?” He asked, his voice coloured with more than a little bit of anger.

“We’ve been best friends since pre-school, I had a crush on him, we, well we got ourselves in to a little bit of a mess in high school when we we’re both seeing other people. But nothing since, I promise. He was the first boy I loved, one of my only friends for a long time, and now he’s more like a brother than anything else.”

Looking up at him she felt her eyes watering, she knew in that moment how pathetic she must look, but she couldn’t stand the thought of him walking away from her. “In my whole life I have loved two people romantically, Xander and Oz, I don’t love them like that anymore, Oz I haven’t seen since he came back and found me 7 months pregnant with another man’s child and he left me all over again, and Xander was a big ol’ mess of a mistake brought on by formal wear.”

Looking down at her feet she stood waiting to be rejected, like she had by Xander so many times when he was chasing Buffy or Cordelia, or to have him run away, a look of disgust on his face like Oz. 

“I love one man now; Josh. Besides that the only person I have been remotely interested in is his dad; and I’ve had a pretty big crush on him for a long time. And if I'm lucky he might be the one I fall _in_ love with.”

His hand grazed her face before he stepped close and pulled her into a hug. “You know, I always regretted not coming back to Sunnydale, not looking you up again. I wanted to, a dozen times or more. When Sam lost his girlfriend, when our dad died, whenever the world came tumbling down I argued with myself every time; but then I’d think of the girl I left behind after one night stand and think to myself ‘why would she ever want me in her life?’ And now, I’m lost all over again because I know you want me in your life, but I don’t know if it’s just because of Josh, or because of me.” He spoke into her hair in a hushed tone and she felt his tremble. “Willow, I need you to be honest with me, if it wasn’t for Josh would you have tracked me down?” 

She stepped away and looked in his eyes for any hint of insincerity, but found none. “I would have wanted to, but who I was then, before Josh, was broken and lonely, she didn’t deserve a guy like you. And I think as much as she would have wanted to, she wouldn’t have, to keep you away from this hellhole. To keep you away from the girl who couldn’t keep anyone happy.”

His face finally produced a smile, albeit a small one. “Willow, who you were then, who I was then; we were different people. I appreciate you being honest with me, but just one more thing. If I was here now. If Josh wasn’t a part of the equation, would you want me to stay even with all the shit going on?”

“Yes. As much as I wish you would take Josh and run away from this town, I understand why you wanted to stay, and I hope we can maybe be what circumstance and timing wouldn’t let us be five years ago.”

“Good. In that case we need to hit the books, because I want out of this deal. I would accept it if it was just me and Sam to worry about, but I have a bigger family now that needs taking care of.”

He grabbed her hand and moved towards the table and introduced himself to Anya and apologise for the friend he must have killed.

   *************************************************************************

Around 11am Buffy and the Potentials came in the store accompanied by a new girl who Willow hadn't seen before.   
"Hey guys. Giles, did you happen to give my address out to everyone even remotely related to The Watchers Council?" Buffy dropped her weapon bag on the floor by the table and beckoned the new girl over. "This is Araminta, she's from San Francisco and according to the bunch of disciples who killed her foster family while she was on a school trip a few weeks ago, she is a potential."

Giles hastily stood up to meet the girl. "Hello, I'm Mr. Giles, I'm Buffy's Watcher." His offered hand was met with a confused stare from the girl. 

"You're like, her boss?" 

Buffy laughed, "More like mentor, head researcher and father-figure all rolled into one." She pointed to the weapons bag for the girl to pick up and motioned towards the half dozen other girls waiting a few paces away. "Can you girls take Araminta downstairs to the training room please; I'll be down in a few." 

The girls followed Vi down the stairs and ushered the new girl with them. 

"Hey Buff, you okay?" 

Buffy groaned. 

"Buffy?" 

Dramatically she lifted her head and stared straight into her eyes. 

"God there's now 9 extra people in the house. There isn't enough room." 

Dean shifted uncomfortably in the seat next to her and she took the opportunity to rest her hand on his arm and give him an encouraging smile. 

"Well let's do something about it. This town has a mess of empty houses and buildings, people are leaving in droves, they know something is happening. We could you know, borrow some space." 

"Willow, I hardly think squatting is appropriate, I mean these are people's homes." Giles added thoughtfully. 

"We could check out which places are up for sale and then have a look round, she which ones have been abandoned, personal stuff taken." Sam added, "we needn't do any damage, not seen a lock yet we can't pick." 

Giles shook his head but the resigned look on his face said everything. "You're right of course, there are 13 of us in a four bed house, and it’s not working. Trying to get in the bathroom is bad enough and there's only going to be more girls turning up. At the end of the day though we can't leave them unsupervised, and I'd rather stay with Buffy to make sure I'm on hand." 

Dean stood up and placed his lock picking set on the table. "That decides it then, us Winchesters and Willow can find somewhere close, and take a few of the girls." 

He bent down to pull her out of her chair and pulled her to his chest. She blushed and giggled up at him. 

"Well Willow, want to move in with me?"

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have edited the chapters upto this one as I was unhappy with a few things and there were some errors. No major content changes though.

They got stuck into the online listings that night after Josh had gone to bed. They were left alone in the living room, the remaining potentials that weren't on patrol that night were down in the basement watching chick flicks and eating popcorn. Sam had chosen to accompany the patrol group to give him and Willow some time alone.

They sat on the sofa, the TV muted and the laptop resting on Willows lap, while he rested an arm around her shoulder and looked at the screen.

There were a few possible houses not too far from Buffy's which had accumulated in the maybe pile. He had discussed with Sam earlier they could call round and check a few places out when he returned from Patrol. As Willow and Buffy had both warned them that they wouldn't be the only ones looking for somewhere to squat.

After finding a few they could check that night the laptop was abandoned to the coffee table and Willow had offered to get them each a beer.

When she held up her own to clink against his, he complied and offered her a smile.

"I think the five bed we looked at would be best, the one with two reception rooms. There's enough space for Josh to have the box room, Sam to have a small room, me and you to share the double and then we can put the girls in the two remaining rooms, and the second reception room as more come. It has three bathrooms which will help, and the kitchen is a pretty good size." Willow babbled at him. 

"That is, unless you'd rather share with Sam, because that would be fine, I mean, I'm just some random girl you're shackled to, I mean you might not want to share with me and do all, the, well you know, grown up things. Maybe I could just share with Josh and you and Sam could share then we'd have an extra room."

He looked over at her fondly, he wondered, not for the first time how she managed to speak for so long without drawing breath. Her face was focused on the beer bottle and she was slowly tearing the label off.

"Or maybe Josh and I could stay here and we could send Xander with you guys. Actually Xander has his own place so that doesn't make much sense. Or maybe we could just get some RVs and set them up out back, or tents."

"Willow, calm down will you." He grabbed the beer bottle out of her hands and placed it on the coffee table next to the laptop where it wouldn't be attacked by her nervous fingers any longer before returning and taking her hand in his own. "I want to share. It's all I've been thinking about all day, all I've been thinking about since you called is being with you."

She finally raised her head and looked at him. "Really?"

Pulling her closer he sat back on the sofa and pulled her half on top of him. "Really."

He stroked the side of her face with his right hand and pulled her face up to meet his and her lips to meet his.

He started with a slow burn of a kiss, applying a small amount of pressure and he smiled against her lips when she responded in kind. Her left hand moved to rest against his chest, above his heart. Her mouth opened to his and he pulled her lower lip in between his deepening the kiss. Taking advantage of the part in her lips he slipped his tongue to move against hers. She melted against him and slid her leg between his; he sighed into the kiss.

Just as he was about to pull her on top of him fully the front door banged open and in walked the group who had gone out on patrol.

Willow pulled herself off of him and he saw a blush rush over her face as she was greeted with the worried stare of Giles and the nauseous one of Xander.

"Jeez Willow! In the living room, come on." Xander exclaimed before walking down the hall to the kitchen.

Giles pulled off his glasses and cleaned them as he walked down the hallway.

And well the Potentials they just stood there giggling before Buffy shepherded them towards the basement to join the other girls.

By the time Sam came inside Willow had moved off him, and besides the blush looked like nothing had happened. "Hey Sammy, how was the hunt?"

"Patrol" Buffy shouted from down the hallway.

"It was fine Dean; you guys find a few places for us to check out tonight."

"Yeah, although no idea how to get to them."

Buffy entered the living room from the opposite end to Sam. "Don't worry I'll come along, don't really want you guys out after dark without backup after all."

Lifting himself off the sofa he grabbed his jacket off the chair. "Ready if you guys are?"

At Buffy and Sam's nods he leant down and kissed Willow before throwing her a naughty smile.

*************************************************************

Thankfully they hadn't run into any trouble with the first house, but it proved to have too many occupied houses nearby if the cars on the driveways and the well manicured lawns were anything to go by.

The second house came with a trio of Vampires they vanquished relatively easy between them. Although Buffy did have to save him from becoming the big ones next meal. While the house would have been perfect; unfortunately the previous inhabitants had left a mess of broken furniture and bloody stains.

The third house looked the best from the outside. On one side was an empty half burnt out house, and the other side held a small grassed over area with a few swings. They wouldn't be overlooked; there wasn't anyone in this neighbourhood that would think to take too close of a look at the house. 

Skirting round back they tried all of the windows to test how secure they were, and when nothing jumped out at them Dean pulled out his lock pick. "No time like the present."

Jimmying the back door open he hesitantly opened the door for Buffy to go in first who held a stake in hand. The kitchen seemed quiet, nothing but a coating of dust on the appliances.

Sam followed him in and quietly closed the door before flicking the light switch. "Well there's one thing, whoever left this place kept the debits up on the power."

Buffy walked into the hall and he followed, she motioned for them to check the downstairs while she checked out the upper floor.

The living room was a good size, with all the regular furniture. He pulled the curtains closed before nodding his head at Sam to turn on the light.

Sam picked up something from the coffee table, studied the cover and then showed it to Dean. "I don't think there's been anyone here for a while, this TV Guide is four months old."

Dean nodded to the bare walls pointing out the shadows from where photos must have hung. "Looks like when they left they took all the memories with them as well."

Sam chucked the TV Guide into the waste paper basket by the sofa and pointed to the hallway.

"Shall we check out the other rooms?"

Dean nodded but pulled his gun just to be safe. When the dining room and the downstairs bathroom proved to be just as deserted they made their way back to the hallway, to the front door as Buffy was descending the stairs.

"Upstairs is clear, five serviceable bedrooms, one with an en suite and one bathroom."

She made to walk down the hallway and pointed to a door by the kitchen. "You guys checked the basement yet?"

When Dean shook his head she slowly opened the door and pulled the small cord to turn on the light. "Let's make sure then."

Dean followed behind Buffy with Sam bringing up the rear. She turned at the bottom of the stairs and stopped abruptly causing him to stumble into the back of her.

Looking past her he saw a man lying on the floor next to a cross, his face hidden in the shadow of it.

He looked curiously at Buffy before lowering his gun in case it was the owner.

Buffy hadn't moved an inch. The man on the floor hadn't moved an inch.

"Buffy?"

She turned her head slightly and shushed him before moving towards the figure on the floor. As she bent down a hand grabbed out and pulled her close.

He moved like a shot and had his gun trained on the figure before he could let out a breath.

Just as he was about to shoot Buffy shouted a no and moved to get herself, and then the man standing up straight.

The disheveled man looked familiar, but broken; it wasn't till he looked up and met his eyes that he recognized him. Holstering the gun he grabbed the stake out of Sam's hand and approached only for Buffy to push him back. He landed with a thud and saw the Slayer move the Vampire away.

"Don't."

With Sam's helped he forced himself back on to his feet. "Don't? This is the Vampire that tried to attack Willow the night we met." He shouted moving towards the creature that shied away from him in fear.

Buffy again was there in a moment shielding the creature. "Spike isn't evil anymore."

"Really sweetheart? And what exactly makes you think that?"

"He has a chip, the military neutralized him against harming humans. He's helped us."

"Darling, I'm sorry but if this monster had his way Willow wouldn't be here right now to do your mojo and I would have a son!"

"Joshua." A small voice whispered from behind Buffy and he made to attack it.

Buffy once more held up her hand and stopped him moving any further. "Maybe once, but if Spike hadn't been around when I died, Willow, Josh, Dawn, Xander and Giles more than likely wouldn't have survived. He helped them, he's on our side."

The Vampire in question released his hold on Buffy and slumped to the floor mumbling. 

"You won't hurt him Dean. I'm sorry, but Willow will agree with me, we need to get him back to the house, something is wrong."

"You're crazy lady; you want to take a Vamp to the house where my son and the woman I love are you have another thing coming!" He shouted and found Sam at his side resting his hand on his shoulder.

"Dean, calm down man. Here" Sam handed his phone to him with Willows number showing on the screen. "Talk to her."

************************************************************

Willow dropped her gaze from Dean as he entered the house in a stomp. Buffy trailed behind him, her hand tight around Spike’s arm. “Spike, you've been gone months.” She moved closer to him, but Buffy shook her head. 

Willow pointed towards the basements where she had set up a chair and cuffs for Spike after clearing the girls out. She followed behind them, ignoring Sam and Dean who had moved into the kitchen and each grabbed a beer out of the fridge. 

When they reached the basement Spike moved towards the chair of his own accord and tightened the handcuffs around himself. 

She moved closer, knelt down in front of him and rested her hand against his forehead. She pulled it away quickly and stood up. “Buffy, he has a soul.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super long Chapter 9 - A trip to LA, and a teensy but of implied smut.   
> Enjoy, and as ever leave me a review please. The formatting on this one was a mother.   
> Everything underlined is quoted from the show. There isn't a huge amount of Plot here if you've seen the Angel episode 'Orpheus' and I've cut a bit of it, but I hope you enjoy regardless.

The arguments that had been whispered in harsh tones the previous night seemed to carry forward to the morning.

After a miserable breakfast Willow drove Josh to school in her own car and decided to visit The Magic Box just to save having to go back to the tension filled house-hold.

Giles, Xander and Dean were dead set against trusting the broken   
vampire. But Buffy, Dawn and herself wanted to see how the situation would play out and protect him in the meantime from both himself and the male inhabitants of the house.

The Magic Box was as quiet as ever, but she chose to sit atop the laddered stoop and research rather than hear Giles' arguments again. She was busy researching Crossroads demons, looking for a way out of the contract Dean had entered into without his brother’s soul being damned to hell in his place.

As much as she liked Dean it seemed all of the patience had skipped him in the Winchester line and gone straight to his brother instead.

Sam hadn't weighed in on his opinions of Spike, but instead kept a level head and stayed out of the conversation as much as possible, retreating to the living room after he had grabbed a beer the previous night.

After 1pm she realized she didn't have enough information on crossroads demons to continue her research any further. Frustrated at reaching a dead -end she descended the ladder and left the shop nodding to Anya and went in search of coffee and pastries at The Espresso Pump.

Sitting at the table in the coffee shop she skimmed through her emails on her phone only to be disrupted with a phone call from Angel in L.A.

"Hi Angel."

"Uh, hi Willow, it's actually not Angel, it's Fred." 

Remembering the shy physicist she met briefly Willow smiled.

"Hi Fred, how you doing?"

"I'd love to say well, but we have an issue. We had to take Angel's soul away because we needed Angelus to remember something, only problem now is that someone stole it, and we can’t break it out of whatever it is in and, well, we have him locked up in the basement."

Willow stuttered and took a deep breath. "Fred, are you telling me that" she lowered her voice, "Angel is Angelus again and you can't find his soul?"

"Yes, we need your help."

Grabbing her bag she left the coffee stop, "give me a couple of hours. I can't bring Josh with me this time, it’s too dangerous."

She hung up the phone and dashed to her car, leaving her half drunk mocha and almond croissant at the table.

*******************************************************************

Panic stations descended over the Summer’s household. Buffy was prepared to pick up Josh and take care of him, Giles had run back to The Magic box to get her an orb and the other supplies she would need for the re-ensouling, and Willow was frantically packing a bag.

As she was loading up her car Dean and Sam pulled up on the kerb behind her. "Dean. I've got to go to L.A for a few days. I'm the only person living, well I was till we found out about Spike, that has re-ensouled a vampire, and the guys down there have run into an issue. Buffy knows Josh's schedule, she'll keep you on track, and I've rang his teacher to let her know you'll be collecting him from school. I have to rush." 

She ran up to him and gave him a kiss of the cheek. "I'm sorry; you'll take care of Josh right? I should be back in a few days."

Dean stood still in front of her looking like he had been hit by a train, but she didn't have time to hold his hand through this. "It'll be fine, Buffy, Dawn and Xander are more than capable to help."

Moving to the driver’s door she threw him what she hoped was a reassuring smile before getting in and starting the engine.

Except the vehicle turned over, once, twice and then spluttered and died. Trying again she turned the key only for nothing to happen. She tried again; nothing.

Slamming her hands against the steering wheel she sighed and tried again to get the vehicle to start. Frustrated she groaned and let her forehead drop to the steering wheel. A tap on the window dragged her head away from the warm plastic and saw Dean grinning at her through the glass. He opened the door and reached over to up clip her seat belt and pull her out of the vehicle. 

“Willow, it isn't going to start, from the noise it's most likely the starter motor, I’ll take a look at it when we get back.” 

“We?”

“Yeah sweetheart, me and you will have a little vacation in L.A and Sammy can hold the fort down here with the girls.” 

She let herself be dragged round the car where she popped the boot and grabbed the bag that he handed to her. “But, my car is broke.” 

His smile made her melt a little bit, “I know sweetheart, that’s why we’re taking mine.” 

He placed his arm on her elbow and pulled her towards the Impala. He left her by the passenger side and made his way to the driver’s side. “Sammy, let Buffy know what is happening, and keep an eye on Josh, keep him away from the basement.” 

Sam nodded at the two of them and moved towards the house offering her a smile before turning. Willow moved into the vehicle and strapped herself in.

They'd fought more about Spike in the car. Eventually not being able to say anything else she stopped arguing. "Look he saved me and your son countless times, it wasn't easy bringing him up, and I couldn't find you and he was there for me, to pick up the pieces when Buffy died, it hasn't been easy okay?" 

He leaned over and pushed the tape into the player. "Right whatever, but if he ever, and I mean even just a little bit, threatens either of you he's dust in the wind." 

Kansas blared from the radio and she ignored him. Only two hours of driving left. She didn't care to complain about the music again; frankly one round of shutting her pie-hole was enough.

*******************************************************************

It was 6pm by the time they pulled up at the Hyperion and both of them were stuff and grouchy from the ride, but he still shouldered her bag like a gentleman and she picked up the small box of supplies. 

Entering the lobby she smiled at the agitated fighters that resided within and let them argue for a minute. 

"I think you need a witch" 

Moving down the stairs she let Dean follow her, his eyes casting over the room. "Did I come at a bad time?"

"Willow." Wesley looked hesitantly at her.

"She's a witch?" She turned her head to face the floppy hair boy.

"Yes. Hi. You must be Angel's handsome, yet androgynous, son."

"It's Connor."

"And the sneer's genetic. Who knew?"

"Hi Willow." Fred said waving a little.

"Hey Fred. It's good to see you. Oh, and it's the Marlboro Man. Or at least his extra stubbly, mentally unstable, insomniac, first cousin of—for the love of Hecate, somebody stop me.”

Wesley looked at her oddly before casting his glance back at Dean.

"Are there forces gathering? Did the call of magic draw you here? Have you left Josh with Buffy? And who’s this?" He motioned towards Dean.

"Oh, no. More like the call of Fred." She giggled with Fred before turning her gaze back to Wesley. "And this is Dean Winchester, Josh's father and one of the best hunters in the country." 

"Of course. Bring in the only living person to ever re-ensouled Angel. And well, yes nice to meet you, I think I met your father." Wesley held out his hand to Dean who shuffled the bags around to meet it with his own. 

"Likewise."

He placed their bags on the counter and Willow followed suit with the box.

"We should probably start the debriefing. Where's Cordy?"

Conner moved towards the stair trying to block her exit. "Unfortunately, the guy you're all trying to magically re-ensoul shot her with a crossbow. She's not up for visitors." God, he did have the Angel sneer down, to a tea.

Wesley stepped forward and placed a hand on Conner's shoulder. "I think she'll want to see Willow. After all, she's travelled a long way, and they have a history together."

He shuffled towards the stairs and she followed him with a small wave to those in the lobby.

*******************************************************************

Dean looked over the people he was left with in the lobby and pointed to the stairs. "Hey, er Wesley was it? Where can I put our bags, it's been a bit of a drive and if there's going to trouble if appreciate freshening up a bit." 

Wesley picked up Willows bag but left the box of magic items on the counter. "Yes, of course, I'll show you to a room." 

"Thanks."

They made the way up the stairs. "So you're like Giles then? A Watcher?" 

Wesley dropped his gaze and focused on the steps. "I was, Buffy's watcher after Giles was fired from the Council, and Faith's too before she went rogue." He pointed to the room on the right. "She's in there at the moment, in a coma." Wesley pulled up short just past the door. "Actually, just so you know, one of our friends is watching over her, please try not to kill him. He's green, with horns, but he's on our side." 

He did a double take an the ex-Watchers words and stopped walking for a second before taking a few long strides to join Wesley outside of a door he had just opened. "Will this be sufficient for you and Willow?" 

Dean shuffled nervously before peeking his head round the corner. "We're, I mean, I don't know if we are sharing." 

"No that's fine Wesley. Thank you, can you give me an hour or two to grab a quick nap before I make with the magic?" Willow approached from the opposite direction grinning at him. 

"Of course Willow, anything you need me to do?" 

"Yeah, can you grab me the herbs and whatnot for Delothrian’s Arrow please?" She smiled and entered the room, reaching for her bag, somehow dragging him along with her and closing the door behind them. 

Dean placed his bag on the floor before sitting on the corner of the bed. 

Willow faced up against him and lifted his face to meet hers. "I don't need much of a nap, want to talk? Because if something goes wrong and Angelus gets loose I don't want anything left unsaid." 

Her eyes were brimming with hope, a deep green that echoed his own. He knew she wanted him to say everything would be fine, but he knew more than most he was living with an expiry date hanging over his head. Fuck it.

He pulled her down on top of him as he lay back on the bed, his fingers entwining in her hair as he brought his lips to her neck. Moving to pull the jacket off her shoulders he kissed down her collar bone and sucked at where it dipped. 

She responded by bringing her knees up to not put her whole weight on him, and moved the buttons of his shirt out of their holes, pulling the sleeves down his arms. She ran her hands down his shirt and forced him to break contact with her neck so he could pull it over his head. Staring down at him he saw a flush rise in her chest and face as she traced the tattoo over his chest. 

Reaching to her waist he sat up and pulled her own top overhead before bringing his mouth down to lavish her breasts above the bra. Her breath hitched and he smiled against her, hands skimming down her sides, before rolling her so he was on top. He pulled his mouth away and looked her in the eyes, his right hand playing with the bras clasp.

"I wish I'd never left. Last night I told Sam and Buffy I loved you, and it wasn't until the words fell out of my mouth that I realized how true it was." 

Her eyes widened. "I think I fell in love with you that night. I wasn't even planning on being on that campus, maybe I was supposed to be there. Fate has a lot to do with my family; maybe meeting you that night was all part of a larger plan. All these years I've avoided coming back though, because I didn't want to get you messed up in the crap that killed my mother, that killed Sam's girlfriend. I thought for a long time that any woman a Winchester loved was doomed to die so I buried my feelings." He nuzzled her neck, nipping slightly at the skin. "But he's gone now, but I paid the cost, and I want to spend the next 11 months of my life with you. And if by some miracle we get me out of this crap then I'm not going to run, you hear me?" 

He lifted his head away, but before he could pull back fully he felt her nodding against his face before she reached for his belt buckle.

*******************************************************************

65 minutes later saw them back downstairs staring at a bubbling jar. Willow grinned and motioned happily for Wes to look. 

"Look, it's working."

"I thought Delothrian's Arrow was used to protect good magicks."

"It is." Emboldened at her display of magic she winked at Dean for approval who just looked at her a little awestruck. 

"So, how can you use it to break the jar? The Muo-Ping is a sacred object. It's holy."

"It's glass, therefore crunchable. The sacred's what's inside. "All life a container...""

""...For the heart of all life." You've studied the Daharim."

"It had to be something specific. There's lots of jars in the world—can't shatter them all. I mean, you could, but good things come in jars. Peanut butter, jelly, chocolate spread..." She smiled at Wesley who seemed to miss the joke. 

Walking round to Fred she lifted her chin up with her finger. ”You’re good, good bells.”

She moved round to the front desk and faced Gunn and Dean who were standing there. ”OK, now all I gotta do is contact the spirit world, harness the Delothrian ebb, and focus it through my little marble of doom here. And we'll restore the Muo-Ping's entropic equilibrium.”

Gunn nodded but still held a bemused look, ”The jar goes smash?”

“Smash-o-crash.” 

“All I need to know. I'll be downstairs in case the Prince of Darkness wakes up.” 

Gunn left the room and made his way to the basement, she threw a wink to Dean before turning.

“OK.” She moved back over to the room and readied the metal balls in her hand.

Wesley walked over and stood near her. ”You ready?”

“Should be a snap.” She barely got the words out of her mouth before a bolt of orange energy hit her and sent her flying across the room. 

The booming voice of the Beastmaster echoed around them. “Stay your hand, witch! You will not interfere with what must come to pass.” 

She weakly pulled herself up from the ground before holding a hand to Dean and Wesley to stop them running over. She moved her hands to cover her head and managed to mumble “Invadoria disparu!"

“You think to banish me? As long as the soul is under my protection, it will never be freed.” The voice boomed once again. 

She gathered her strength and intoned, “Vetsche invadoria disparu!” 

“I'th bid my thongue.”

Willow felt her eyes go black, and turned away so Dean wouldn't be alarmed, she knew exactly what black eyes meant in his work. “Open the window. Fill this stone. Inside, outside. Two made one. Alesh ashtoreth! 

She blocked out all that was going on around her, the ground shook and an apparition of a demonic head floated above her. 

“Find your target. Leave my side.” She spoke into her hand to send the metal balls to do their work. ”Geth na haroth castellum tol. Break the glass. Let loose the soul!”

She felt the magic release and break the jar. 

*******************************************************************

A short time later they lit candles in the lobby, the four of them working together. 

“So... now Angel's soul is just floating around out there?” Fred asked as she lit the last candle.   
Nodding at her she held up the Orb, ”Yeah, until I can channel it into the Orb of Thessulah.”

They both moved to pick up the books and Wesley and Dean took a step back. They started enchanting the spell, one Fred had never incanted before, and one she herself hadn't done since she was a novice.

As the spell took hold she felt the wind rush around her hair and it was done.

*******************************************************************

Faith filled them in on the drama as Conner lay unconscious following his attack on Angel. By the time he came round they were ready to leave. 

Fred handed her a stack of books. ”You'd know better than me, but there's some interesting stuff about hellmouth. Might help. Also some stuff about Crossroads demons I managed to dig out.” 

Nodding her head and sharing out the pile with Faith who had no luggage she gave the woman an awkward one handed hug. “This is great. Thank you.”

She moved to stand next to Faith who had been joined by Dean who held their bags and the supply box. “Time goes by, Will.”

“OK. Good. Wagons west. See you guys.”

She started to move towards the door, only to be interrupted by Angel. 

”Willow...”

“He's going to tell you how much he owes you.” Faith interrupted. 

She moved over to give him a hug as well. ”Aw, don't mention it. I got a slayer out of the deal, so we're even-steven. I'll tell Buffy you said hi.”

“Good. Thanks.”

She ushered Faith and Dean out the door in front of her before stopping and turning back to those in the lobby. ” Oh, um, next time you guys resurrect Angelus, call me first, OK?” And with a smile she followed Dean to the car, only to see the look of joy on Faith’s face upon seeing the Impala. 

“Nice going Red! Not only is he a ball of manly ruggedness he drives an old Chevy. Well done.” 

Willow giggled and helped them load the boot, ignoring the look of glee on Dean’s face at the compliment. 

As they all settled into the car, Faith in the backseat, Dean started the engine and smiled at them. “Well back to Sunnydale ladies, I believe we are missing out on an apocalypse.” 

As the sun started rising they drove home.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I’m kind of skipping through the last part of season 7 now, I kind of what to move past it and get to the saving Dean part of the story. Just for those worrying, I won’t be encompassing much of ‘Season 8’, or any of it really. 
> 
> Anyway, a little update that covers a lot. Please read and review as ever.
> 
> WRW xx

Things were tense in the Summer's household for a few days. Spike was still in the basement making half of the house's inhabitants nervous; Faith was trying to find a place to fit in without rubbing Buffy up the wrong way, Dean and Sam were trying to appear useful and she was running around trying to make their new squat habitable while keeping the worst of the tension from Josh.

On top of that they had received half a dozen new potentials in over the last few days pushing the people currently squeezed into the four beds at twenty people.

After just two days Faith had moved into a tent in the garden to get some peace, and Willow had moved back into her room along with Josh and the Winchesters till they could get in the new place.

Poor Sam was left overhanging across a futon on the floor while she and Dean shared with Josh squeezed in the middle, loving the attention he was getting from his new found family.

The packing was almost complete, and thanks to a credit card she hadn't wanted to look too closely at, the boot of her recently repaired car was full of blankets and bedding and non perishables ready to be taken over.

Sam and Xander had travelled over to secure the place and had fortified the front door and the windows. The back door was left with the easiest access but they removed the locks and placed heavy duty ones across with three different bolts. 

Sam and Dean covered the doorways with demon traps, and lined every window with salt.

The bedrooms were cleared away of anything that was remaining that would not serve them, but they laundered all the towels and bedding and kept it in a closet.

Vi and Amanda followed them to the house, along with Faith and three of the new girls; Jane, Chloe and Ashleigh.

They put Josh in the spare room, none of them being able to deny him his own room. Sam took the next smallest room at the top of the stairs and offered to store supplies and weapons in the meagre space left over after the bed. Willow and Dean rather than take up another room decided to move into the loft and realising it had already been partially converted by the previous owners. 

They partitioned up one side; Faith and Sam dutifully carried up an old bookcase they found and some old leather armchairs sourced from an abandoned bookshop to make up a makeshift library. Rather than go to the trouble of trying to get a bed up the narrow stair Dean paid for a cheap but new mattress and laid it on a sheet on the floor for them. She covered it in pillows and throws for them.

Within a week they'd all settled into a comfortable routine. She would take Josh to school in Dean’s car while Sam drove the girls round to Buffy's in her car and Faith followed on foot. From there the two Slayers and the Winchesters would train the girls in hand-to-hand combat while she would spend the day delved in books with Giles. 

At 3pm they would pick Josh up from school and help him with his homework before they would have a few hours relaxing. At 6 they made supper for everyone before Willow would take Josh home and continue researching. Dean preferred to stay home with them having family time or keeping her company once Josh had gone to bed.   
Sam had built up a friendship with Faith and often went with her group as they went to Patrol on a night-time, keeping an eye on the girls, crossbow always ready at his side should be need to help out if one of the girls got in over her head with a Vamp. 

Buffy was wrapped up in training, losing all pretence of a careless young woman and threw herself head first into preparing the girls and looking after Spike who had come on well since moving into the Summer's basement. Although he still had difficulty with the guilt from his years without a soul, Dawn became a soothing balm for him and acted a nursemaid to the creature who had always kept her safe. 

All in all things were going okay, well, as okay as they could be anyway, considering they were facing down an apocalypse. 

Then everything, as usual went to hell.

***********************************************************

Xander had come across the girl, Shannon, as he was driving to work one morning, bleeding and bruised on the side of the road. 

She stayed with her at the hospital, studying the weird mark burned into her neck and waiting for her to wake. 

It took a few hours for her to come round from the surgery, but she waited at the bedside, and called Buffy as soon as the girl awoke. 

"He was a minister or something... At least, he dressed like one. I thought he was trying to save me...at first."

Buffy stood beside her, her face grim. 

"He—he picked you up on the side of the road?" Buffy asked. 

"Bringers were chasing me. He said they were his boys...right before he burned me. He wanted to tell you something. Before he...cut me...he told me to give the slayer a message."

"What is it?"

"He said, "I have something of yours."”

*************************************************************************

Faith. Buffy, Spike, Xander and some of the girls went to track the mad preacher down.

Willow fussed over Josh before laying him down on Buffy's bed. He was happy to be back home, but he had been quiet all evening sensing the unease that surrounded them all.

Willow sat with Dean and Sam looking through the books Fred had gave her at the dining room table, the doors partially closed. 

Frustrated at hitting another dead end she slammed the book shut. 

Sam looked at her with concern but Dean kept his head buried in his book. 

"Sorry Sam, I'm just kinda on edge. We have a crazy priest in town stabbing girls, harbingers running round town like they own the place, a dozen plus teenagers to train and my boyfriend is being dragged to hell in a little over 10 months." Her voice rose to a shout towards the end.

Realising she had drawn the attention of the living rooms inhabitants, as well as Dean she blushed and fled from the room.

 

Standing on the deck she let the cool evening air hit her face and she sunk to the ground, tears overcoming her. It was the first time she cried since Buffy had died. The first time she felt in a long time with all the magic and research skills she possessed that she was of no use. She couldn't stop the First, she couldn't save the man she was steadily re-falling in love with, and she couldn't even get her son away from the hell they were living through. 

All in all, she realised, she was quite powerless. 

The door opened behind her and Dean lowered himself to sit on the ground before putting his arm around her and pulling her close. He rubbed her arm and she melted into his side. 

"So, boyfriend huh?" 

She smiled against his chest. 

"I like that, although I've only ever taken you on the one date. If you could call it that." 

She wrapped her arm around his front and pulled him closer. Unable to find her voice she nodded against him. 

"I'd take you out to dinner, maybe to a bar for a few drinks. Not dancing though, we did that once before and anymore and I think you'd leave me on the spot.” He paused and his body stiffened against her. “I don't really know actually where I'd take you." 

He looked down at her and lifted her chin so her eyes met his. "I've never actually been on a date before; you're the first girl I've slept with more than twice. The first girl I've thought I have a future with." He let go of her chin and lowered his forehead to rest against hers. "Ironic isn't it, seen as I have a definite expiry date." 

She shook her head and found her voice. "Not if I have anything to do with it."

***********************************************************************

The night turned out to be the worst they'd ever had. 

Two of the potential girls died. 

Xander lost an eye. 

The only thing they recovered from the mess was a scythe. A scythe that called out to both Buffy and Faith equally; that intoxicated her with its power. 

As she sat by Xander's bedside, his head and eye bandaged up she let silent tears run down her face and made the decision there and then that no one else she loved would be hurt by The First again.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter guys. I'm working on the sequel as we speak so look out for that. 
> 
> WRW  
> x

As they prepared for the final battle the anxiety she felt reached new levels. She knew her job would be to use the Scythe to activate all the potential Slayers, and she knew that the Hellmouth would likely collapse on itself if she did.   
  
She tried to convince Dean, then Sam, to take Joshua and leave town, to wait for them somewhere safe. Sam was happy to do so and Dean reluctantly accepted the plan as the best way to keep their son safe.   
  
She forced back the tears that were threatening to spill as she loaded up her car with all their mementos, some clothes and bits from Buffy's house you knew she was too worried to think about.   
  
Photo albums took up a whole box of their own, pictures of those they had lost that they could not bear to part with; pictures of Joyce taking up the bulk.   
  
Before she knew it she was waving goodbye to her son and Sam who were on their way to Sioux Falls having deemed the city limit too close. Dean pulled her close and she buried her head in his chest. "Don't worry baby, we'll see him again soon, Sam will take care of him."   
  
They spent that evening finalizing their plan. She would be with Dean working her mojo while the others went to the seal or acted as a perimeter.    
  
At 4am they shakily made their way back to the empty house that had been theirs for the past month.   
  
With the house all to themselves for once she saw the opportunity and grabbed it. Taking his hand she led him up both flights of stairs to reach their make shift bedroom. Removing her hand she moved it to the buttons of his plaid shirt, carefully slipping them from their home before moving the shirt off his shoulders and down his arms.   
  
Fingers inching underneath his t shirt she felt the firm muscles of his stomach. He tensed against her before wrapping his hand around her waist and leaning down to kiss her.   
  
She inched her fingers further up his chest, and played with the smattering of hair between his pectorals.   
  
He stepped back slightly and pulled the T-shirt over his head and worked on hers. "Willow, in case this is our last day, or our last day together, I want to remember it." Finishing the final button in her blouse he pulled the sleeves down her arms and let it fall to the floor. "No matter what happens, if anything goes wrong and I don't make it through tomorrow, promise me you will not raise our son alone. You'll find someone else, please?"   
  
She reached out to his belt and blinked back tears. Slipping the leather through the buckle she nodded her head. "I promise, on one condition. You do the same; you'll fight this deal with everything you've got and don't let yourself be taken down by it."   
  
She pulled the belt from his pants and looked up into his eyes. Dean nodded carefully down at her. "Okay."  


***************************************************  
  
They settled in place in Principal Wood’s office, where the library had once been; directly over the Hellmouth.   
  
She placed the candles in a circle, while Dean drew out the pentagrams and times needed to make the spell work.   
  
Finally she held a knife out to him.   
  
"They should be in place. OK, magic time. You ready to, heh heh, kill me?"  
  
They had discussed in last night in between bouts of love-making. The spell she was attempting would harness the full power on the Slayer, multiplying and passing it on to hundreds on girls and woman all over the world. It was more power than even the highest levels of covens ever attempted; and she'd be doing it with only Dean as her anchor. He was prepared, if she went dark side to stop her before she could do more damage.  
  
She settled crosslegged in the centre of the circle and carefully lifted the scythe. Channelling her magic into it she felt out to every other girl like Buffy, like Kendra, like Faith, and in a moment of pure joy she turned them all on.   
  
Feeling the magic move from her she weakly handed the scythe to Dean and collapsed on the floor in giggles.   
  
She heard him say something but it didn't register, the thrum of the First Slayer running in her veins. Her hands were glow-y.   
Slowly the magic started to ebb and wane, and the room lost its brightness.   
  
Footsteps rushed towards her, and she slowly raised her stake up.   
  
Dean skidded into the room and scooped her up. "Right Princess, let's go."   
  
He held her to his chest and she smiled into the warm flannel of his shirt. Running to the exit to the school he passed Anya, Xander and Giles and who rushed to check on Willow.   
  
"Is she okay? Did it work?" Giles placed his hand against her flush cheek.   
  
She smiled at him and reached her hand up to meet his. "Sleepy Giles, Rupert, Rupert Giles." She giggled and shoved her face back towards Dean. "You smell good."   
  
Dean shifted her in his arms. "She's a little giddy. I'm going to run her to the bus to help Dawn when she regains her senses then I'll be right back."   
  
She closed her eyes and sank further into his arms.  


  
She came round as they cleared the town and slowly opened her eyes to look around the school bus.   
  
The back door stood open and she saw Buffy embracing Dawn. Scanning her eyes she searched for Dean and felt her heart race at not being able to see him.   
  
Stumbling out of her seat she scanned the aisle frantically looking for his leather jacket but saw nothing.   
  
Slowly making her way past the girls she stumbled onto the road next to Buffy and Dawn.   
  
Buffy pulled her into a tight hug and Dawn latched on to her back.   
  
"Dean?"   
  
Buffy pulled away from her and nodded her head to see Xander and Dean patching up Principal Wood by the side of the road. She pulled herself from the Summer's hug and raced towards him as fast as her legs could carry her. "Dean."  
  
He turned his head and raised himself to his feet. She crashed into him and knocked him to the ground. Clutching his chest she cried softly into his shirt. His hand reached up and stroked her back before pulling them both up into a sitting position. "It's okay Princess, I've got you."   
  
She clutched tighter at his leather lapels and allowed herself to be pulled up.   
  
They would be alright. They had made it out and their son was safe. Turning to see Buffy, Dawn and Giles they stood by the edge of the crater. Joining them she moved from Dean's grasp and latched herself onto Xander. "We did it."   
  
“Looks like the hellmouth is officially closed for business.” Faith added.   
  
Giles bent and picked up a rock. “There is another one in Cleveland. Not to spoil the moment.” He threw the rock into the crater.   
  
Xander looked down at her. ”We saved the world.”  
  
“We changed the world. I can feel them, Buffy. All over. Slayers are awakening everywhere.”  
  
She stood by Buffy.   
  
Dawn looked round Buffy to them. ”We'll have to find them.”  
  
“We will.”  
  
Giles paced slightly behind them. ”We have a lot of work ahead of us.”  
  
“Can I push him in?” Faith added smiling at her.   
  
”You’ve got my vote.”  
  
Faith nudged Giles. ”I just want to sleep, yo, for like a week.”  
  
“I guess we all could, if we wanted to.” Dawn chirped in.  
  
Willow smiled and reached for Dean’s hand.   
  
”Yeah. The First is scrunched, so... what do you think we should do, Buffy?”  
  
“We go get Joshua, we get Sam, and we work on getting Dean out of that deal. Then we take a vacation.” Buffy smiled at the crater.   
  
“Sounds like a plan.” Dean squeezed her hand and smiled at her.


End file.
